


Accents and Books

by tulirepo



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Accents, Cuddling, Domestic Fluff, M/M, No Spoilers, Reading, no pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 21:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16941294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tulirepo/pseuds/tulirepo
Summary: When Ash gets home late into the night, Eiji is there to forgo asking questions and offer him comfort by reading him a book while cuddling.





	Accents and Books

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cukinyuszi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cukinyuszi/gifts).



> I think it could be placed somewhere in episode 12. After seeing the last episode and how Ash allowed Eiji to touch him even in his most shaken state, we came to the conclusion with Gia that the boys must have cuddled a lot. 
> 
> And Eiji's suffering with English pronunciation is totally legit, who came up with it anyway.

“You’re home early,” Eiji remarked, closing the book on his fingers. He laid in Ash’s bed with the book they got from the library the last time they were there and fought. Ash stared at him for a moment; he was maybe too taken off guard to make a sassy remark, but then he dropped his towel on Eiji’s bed, walking through the room naked to get his pyjama. He obviously tried to sneak in without Eiji noticing him, but he woke up when he heard the water running.

“And you’re reading _my_ book in _my_ bed,” Ash said while he fished out an underwear, hopping into it. Eiji liked to think that it didn’t bother him much when he was the one seeing him naked; he would never touch him without his permission. 

“It looked interesting,” he shrugged. 

“How far did you get?”

“Page forty.”

“Wow, that’s fast for such an old man,” Ash finally turned to him while pulling his head through his t-shirt, dancing away when Eiji threw a pillow at him, purposely failing at aiming. Eiji pouted but made place for Ash when he came there to settle next to him. He kind of wanted to ask where Ash had been for so long, but he bit his tongue; he didn’t want to fight again, and Ash obviously washed away all the evidences and gunpowder. 

All he wanted was to be glad that Ash was back in safety. 

“You know my English is better than you think. I understand a lot.”

“Of course,” Ash let it be. “So, page forty was it?” he asked as he got his long legs up on the bed too, stretching them in front of him. Eiji lifted the cover slightly; Ash might feel warm now, freshly out of the bathroom, but Eiji turned down the heating for the night as his friend preferred to sleep wrapped fully in blankets so Ash’s bare legs would be soon cold. Ash noticed the tugging and slipped under the cover, sliding a bit closer so that he wouldn’t pull it off from Eiji. Eiji felt heat radiating from his body. 

“Yeah,” he nodded, opening the book again. “Want to read with me?”

“Nah, I left my glasses in the kitchen, and I’m too comfortable to get up.”

“You need glasses, and I’m the old man,” Eiji snorted, earning a playful smack on his arm. 

“Shut up, at least I can read fast.”

“Show-off,” Eiji grimaced, sinking back into the book, now even more determined to make his English reading skills better. Ash relaxed next to him, taking his phone to watch videos with volume turned off. Eiji was grateful for it because reading in a foreign language was hard enough in silence. He got through about ten pages when Ash got bored of the videos, pulling up a news side – probably curious to check if whatever he had done made into the media. Eiji looked up from the book at the change of the lights. Ash read squinting his eyes and pulling the phone closer and closer. Eiji wondered if he realized it at all. 

“Stop that, you’ll ruin your eyes,” Eiji said, gently pushing the phone down. “Or go and grab your glasses.”

“I don’t want to get up.”

“Fine then no reading. 

Seeing Ash’s pout softened Eiji a bit. 

“Or I can read for you.”

“That sure would be an experience.”

“I have a younger sister, so I’m qualified for the job! And you’re the one always teasing me with my accent instead of actually helping me.”

“You can’t handle constructive criticism.”

“Ever thought about that maybe you’re terrible at explaining?” Eiji stick his elbow in Ash’s side, but when his face winced, he let all the teasing go, lifting his arm invitingly. Ash probably needed to rest. “Come here, I’ll read for you if you don’t correct me all the time.”

Ash hesitated for a moment, but seeing Eiji’s encouraging smile, he came to him, ducking his bigger frame under Eiji’s arm. Eiji put an arm around his shoulders and pulled his legs up to get in a more comfortable reading position even if he knew that his body would soon get cramped from Ash’s weight leaning against him. But he couldn’t care less; being this close to Ash physically was precious time. Eiji liked it even if it happened rare for Ash to actively seek it. He was like his name, the lynx, which Eiji couldn’t pronounce for long because damn that l sound. 

When they finally found a comfortable position, Ash blinked up, his eyes glistening mischievously. “I’ll fall asleep if you don’t start soon, big brother.”

“Let me find the page…”

“You can read it from where you were at, I don’t mind hearing it again.”

“Okay,” Eiji licked his lips, taking a big breath before he started to read aloud. It was much easier in his head; he could form there any sound that made English challenging for foreigners, and he heard everything in Ash’s accent; he started to link the whole language to Ash. Not being used to reading much aloud since high school, he often stopped and butchered words until Ash corrected him softly. Consonant clusters were the trickiest; he still caught himself adding vowels in places where they shouldn’t be. 

He got through about two pages when he felt Ash getting heavier. He stopped to look at his friend; his eyes were closed, face relaxed, and he finally looked like his age. Eiji couldn’t stop himself from reaching there to sooth a blond strand behind Ash’s ear. One of Ash’s eyes split open to that, pretending to be irritated. 

“Why did you stop?”

“I thought you fell asleep.” Eiji pocked Ash’s cheeks until the younger caught his index finger between his teeth, gently biting it. Eiji blushed and snatched his hand away. 

“Impossible listening to that accent.”

“Quit that,” Eiji grumbled. “Alex said last week that my English has improved a lot.”

“I wouldn’t believe that coming from someone with a Brooklyn accent.”

“Then why don’t you teach me, Mr My-Accent-Is-The-Most-Valid-One?”

Ash shifted and Eiji gasped as an elbow came into this stomach. “I don’t have hundred years for that.”

“You little…” Eiji hissed, and Ash laid his head back on his chest with a smug expression as if he got exactly what he wanted – namely Eiji getting pissed. 

“So, you continue or what?”

And Eiji grimaced, gritting his teeth but continued because he wouldn’t let Ash have this win. He didn’t care anymore if he butchered long-known words, sometimes he did it even on purpose to annoy Ash. After a while his friend stopped correcting him, so Eiji got more into the flow of reading, even starting to play with his voice. 

The next time he looked at Ash to check on him, he was clearly asleep, mouth open, drooling on Eiji’s shirt. And as dumb as he looked in that moment, Eiji’s heart swelled with fondness because it was him who Ash chose to let him see vulnerable… to see his true self. Eiji’s heart started to pound faster and while their life was nowhere near to perfect, in that moment he felt happier than ever. 

Ash was safe, and he didn’t have a nightmare right now. Eiji closed the book and put it aside. He felt the need to stretch. 

And there came the problem: waking up Ash was the worst option ever. Not because he would be grumpy, no, Eiji could deal with that any day. But because that boy needed his rest, and who was Eiji to deny it when he looked so peaceful, just like a normal teenager. 

Eiji sighed, wondering how he could get into a more comfortable position without Ash noticing it. The minutes went without any useful idea, making Eiji’s back and limbs cramp more. God, he missed working out properly, but Ash would tie him to the bed if he ever tried to go for a jog in the city. 

He had to take action. 

Maybe Ash was like a lazy cat, and he wouldn’t notice it if Eiji shifted little by little. So Eiji did that until he laid practically face to face with Ash, on his side. His right arm was still under his head, but he didn’t mind it that much now that most of his body was in a new pose. Ash still seemed to be fast asleep and Eiji let go of a relieved sigh. He cracked his back, but when he grabbed the blanket to pull it higher on them, callous fingers grabbed his wrist, making him go still as Ash opened his eyes. There were still the remains of his dreams glistening in his green iris; this time of a calm one, almost like he regretted waking up. 

“Don’t go,” he whispered, barely making a sound. Eiji smiled. 

“I wasn’t planning on.”

“Good.” And with that Ash closed his eyes again. Eiji put an arm around him, hoping that the weight of it would assure Ash that he wouldn’t leave him alone ever. 

Listening to Ash sleeping, Eiji also drifted into dream.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think here or on [tumblr](http://tulikettu.tumblr.com/). I also made a pillowfort account, my username there is also tulikettu. ;) And I have a pretty abandoned twitter as tulirepo. 
> 
> Not that that I think that the hellsite would go down that easily lol.


End file.
